Quantum indeterminacy

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Calosi ◽  
Cristian Mariani
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Indeterminacy

scholarly journals Quantum Polar Duality and the Symplectic Camel: A New Geometric Approach to Quantization

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurice A. de Gosson
Keyword(s):  
Uncertainty Principle ◽  
Convex Geometry ◽  
Geometric Approach ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Reconstruction Problem ◽  
Orthogonal Projections ◽  
Topological Version ◽  
Mahler Conjecture ◽  
Quantum Indeterminacy ◽  
Dual Quantum

AbstractWe define and study the notion of quantum polarity, which is a kind of geometric Fourier transform between sets of positions and sets of momenta. Extending previous work of ours, we show that the orthogonal projections of the covariance ellipsoid of a quantum state on the configuration and momentum spaces form what we call a dual quantum pair. We thereafter show that quantum polarity allows solving the Pauli reconstruction problem for Gaussian wavefunctions. The notion of quantum polarity exhibits a strong interplay between the uncertainty principle and symplectic and convex geometry and our approach could therefore pave the way for a geometric and topological version of quantum indeterminacy. We relate our results to the Blaschke–Santaló inequality and to the Mahler conjecture. We also discuss the Hardy uncertainty principle and the less-known Donoho–Stark principle from the point of view of quantum polarity.

Quantum indeterminacy and the eigenstate-eigenvalue link

Synthese ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel C. Fletcher ◽  
David E. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Indeterminacy

Indeterminacy

2020 ◽  
pp. 172-184
Author(s):  
Alastair Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Quantum State ◽  
Modal Realism ◽  
Many Worlds ◽  
Philosophical Literature ◽  
Universal Quantum ◽  
Quantum Indeterminacy

In Everettian quantum mechanics, the universal quantum state is fundamental, non-contingent, and wholly determinate. By contrast, the parallel worlds of diverging EQM, and the contingency constituted by self-location amongst those worlds, are emergent and partly indeterminate. In particular, it is indeterminate both how many worlds there are, and what microscopic qualitative features those worlds have. This chapter discusses various ways to understand indeterminacy in the Everettian multiverse, and argues that the indeterminacies of EQM present no obstacle to the analytic ambitions of quantum modal realism. Everettians can understand quantum indeterminacy using models of indeterminacy that are familiar from the philosophical literature on vagueness.

scholarly journals INDETERMINATEZZA METAFISICA E MECCANICA QUANTISTICA

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Calosi
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Quantum Systems ◽  
Metaphysical Indeterminacy ◽  
Quantum Indeterminacy

The paper argues that quantum mechanics provide examples of genuine metaphysical indeterminacy that cannot be accounted for in purely modal terms. The best account of quantum indeterminacy has it that quantum systems have determinable properties without thereby having a unique determinate of that determinable.

scholarly journals Yet again, quantum indeterminacy is not worldly indecision

Synthese ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Corti
Keyword(s):  
Relativistic Quantum ◽  
Relativistic Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Situation Semantics ◽  
Metaphysical Indeterminacy ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
Australasian Journal ◽  
Meta Level ◽  
Quantum Indeterminacy ◽  
Object Level ◽  
Hunting Ground

AbstractIt has been argued that non-relativistic quantum mechanics is the best hunting ground for genuine examples of metaphysical indeterminacy. Approaches to metaphysical indeterminacy can be divided into two families: meta-level and object-level accounts. It has been shown (Darby in Australasian Journal of Philosophy 88(2):27–245, 2010. 10.1080/00048400903097786; Skow in Philosophical Quarterly 60(241):851–858, 2010) that the most popular version of the meta-level accounts, namely the metaphysical supervaluationism proposed by Barnes and Williams (Oxford Studies in Metaphysics, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 103–148, 2011), fails to deal with quantum indeterminacy. Such a fact has been taken by many as a challenge to adapt supervaluationism to quantum cases. In this paper, I will focus on the very last of these attempts, i.e. the situation semantics account proposed by Darby and Pickup (Synthese 1–26, 2019). After having shown where quantum indeterminacy arises and having surveyed the assumptions endorsed by the participants of the debate, I turn to Darby and Pickup’s proposal. I argue that, despite the machinery introduced, their account still fails to account for quantum indeterminacy. After considering some possible counterarguments, I suggest in the conclusion that one can plausibly extend the argument to those meta-level approaches that treat quantum indeterminacy as worldly indecision.

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